Nasal expander-inhaler



Au 12,1969 c. Rm FLA 3,460,533

NASAL EXPANDER- INHALER Filed Dec. 23, 1965 INVENTOR CLRUD/O RIU PLH ATTORNEYfi United States Patent 01 Tree 3,460,533 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 Int. Cl. A6111! /08, 29/00 US. Cl. 128-206 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A nasal expander-inhaler is arranged for insertion into a patients nostrils for affording maximum expansion of the nasal cavities while supplying medical gases through the inhaler. An expander head forming a small hollow chamber is arranged to be disposed in each nostril and a resilient wire bridge interconnects the expander 'heads for expanding the nostrils in a direction across the patients face. Each expander head has a hair pin spring attached to it with a sphere at the opposite end of the spring from the head expander, the sphere is arranged to be disposed in the forward part of the nose whereby the nasal passage is expanded by the Spring in a forward direction. The combination of the head expander and the sphere in each nostril affords a two-way expansion providing a maximum opening of the nasal passage while limiting the amount of obstruction in the nasal passages.

Summary of the invention The invention concerns a nasal expander-inhaler suitable to expand the nostrils and the nasal fossae of a patient and to serve as a channel to facilitate the inhalation, into the nasal cavities and the respiratory tract of a patient, of medical gases or substances in gaseous or aerosol state.

To this effect, the apparatus of the invention comprises a resilient wire bridge and two resilient wire arms, constituting a hair pin spring each connected to a respective expander head. These arms end in small balls to exert forward pressure on the nostrils, the said heads being connected to inlet channels for the entrance of gas. At the lower ends of such channels, there are fitted flexible tubes through which oxygen or any other medical gas is fed, to discharge through holes provided in the heads opposite the inlet channels.

In the attached drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the in- Mention.

FIG. 2 is a frontal view of one of the expander heads of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a lengthwise section of the head shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating the manner in which the apparatus is fitted into the nasal cavities of a patient.

FIG. 5 is a somewhat schematic frontal view illustrating the manner in which the apparatus is fitted into the nasal cavities of a patient.

The apparatus comprises two expander heads 1 and 2 shaped as double-wall discs to provide a hollow interior, each head being coupled to a channel 3 the upper end of which discharges through a passage 4 into the small chamber 5 formed inside each head. The lower ends of the channels are connected to a flexible tube 6 through which medical gas or aerosol is fed, to discharge through peripheral holes 10 provided in the upper rear part of each head. Holes 10 directly communicate with the interior chamber 5 in each head.

Heads 1 and 2 are connected to each other by means of a resilient wire bridge 7 biasing them apart, each head being also provided with an angle-shaped, or hair pin spring, 8, similarly made of resilient wire and having a small ball 9 at its end.

The two heads as described perform a crosswise expansion of the nasal fossae, and the small balls 9 at the end of the arms perform a lengthwise expansion of the nostrils of a patient in a forward direction. In this manner, maximum expansion of the nasal cavities of the patient is achieved, thus permitting the inhalation of medical gas or aerosol into the respiratory tract and the lungs of the patient.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What I claim is:

1. A nasal expander-inhaler comprises walls forming two separate expander heads, each said expander head forming a relatively small hollow chamber, and having an inlet passageway through said walls communicating with the chamber for delivering a fluid thereto, said walls having apertures communicating with the chamber for discharging fluid from the chamber, a resilient wire bridge interconnecting said expander heads for biasing the heads apart in one direction, a hair pin spring attached to each of said head chambers, and a small sphere located on the end of said hair pin spring remote from the end attached to said expander head, whereby each said expander head and its associated sphere is inserted into a respective nostril and said hair pin springs expand each nostril in a direction forwardly of the face and said wire bridge expands each nostril in a direction across the face thus affording a maximum expansion of the nasal cavities with a limited obstruction thereto for facilitating the inhalation of a fluid supplied to the nasal cavities thorugh the chambers in said expander heads.

2. A nasal expander-inhaler, as claimed in claim 1, including a pair of flexible tubes each secured in communication with the inlet passage of a respective said expander head, said tubes being adapted for connection to a source of fluid for direction thereof into the nostrils and respiratory tract of a patient.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,672,591 6/1928 Wells 128342 2,515,756 7/1950 Bove l28342 FOREIGN PATENTS 530,408 10/ 1921 France. 137,501 10/1952 Sweden.

WILLIAM E. KAMM, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. l28-342 

